1947's Best Picture winner, one of the films that marked the ascent of Gregory Peck to the highest tier of Hollywood stardom, where he would remain from the late 1940s until the early 1960s.

It's an earnest (at times, overly so) anti-anti-Semitic message piece, but it approaches the subject with more dexterity than a lot of stories do. It's much more interested in the "silent accomplices", people who aren't anti-Semitic per se but don't do anything about people who are. Those questions retain their relevance to contemporary society, even as the film's particular prejudice has receded so thoroughly that the world depicted in Gentleman's Agreement feels quite alien. Actually, the film itself feels a little oddly positioned, in retrospect; it came out in 1947, and it is quite passionate about anti-Semitism as a growing menace that must be fought, when these days we'd say it was in fact on the verge of becoming a spent force as the ramifications of the Holocaust sunk in.

This was one of Peck's first Oscar nominations. I've often though that Peck was the white Sidney Poitier; his characters have the same sort of dogged (and kind of one-dimensional) nobility in the face of injustice. Pretty much whenever they showed up, the audience instinctively looked to them as a paragon of morality. He's good here, though the bulk of the overly-earnest moments mentioned earlier also fall to him (but given the time, that's understandable). Celeste Holm won her Oscar for this movie, as the runner-up for Peck's affections, and I kind of suspect that if this movie were made today Peck would have ended up with her. There's also a very young Dean Stockwell as Peck's son. The romance between Peck and Dorothy McGuire is the film's weak point; mainly, it starts way, way too fast (they become engaged after, like, two days).

Found Raising Arizona to be a little slow for the first 30 minutes, but both Cage and Hunter were great in the film. (Kinder forgot to post something about this when I saw it two weeks ago)

The Expendables - it was okay. Could have been a lot better. But I ain't a huge fan of Stallone.

And finally Coen's version of True Grit. Awesome - but kept on looking at my watch. Definely not my favourite Coen brothers film. Their traditional humor was there. I kept on wondering where Brolin was, as never got around to seeing Wayne version.

This has to be the most mistitled or badly translated title possible. There is nothing "romantic" about the film. It really plays as a slightly bit more than soft core porn film with a plot. I expected some nudity from the description, and am not a prude by any stretch, but what we got just didn't fit with the films title.

An unmarried couple living together where the man has decided to forgo sex for reason(s) that seem to be athletic reason but then I doubted that. Not sure if I even recall what it was he did? So the woman is horny as all get out but doesn't want to cheat but suspects he's breaking his vow and having sex elsewhere. Yet she loves him too much too leave him.

Of course the film must build but she starts with a make out session with random guy in a coffee shop. Then later sex with that same guy but the scense are not loving or even enticing. She lays there and complains about things while he's ramming her from behind??

She gets raped in a hallway.
Then consents to some bondage with an older man whom she already knew.
Now the boyfriend is suspect and lashes out by having sex with her but not ejaculating...or fully cause she ends up preggers.

To cap the movie off we see the child born in a straight off manner that would've made any Anatomy 101 class edu film. Afterbirth and all comes sliding out.

The Servant: This was an odd little movie. In the first half, I was convinced that I was watching a mild-mannered class drama about the relationship between a manservant (played by Dirk Bogarde) and his upper-class employer (played by James Fox). Then, in the second half, the movie seems like a portrait of the upper-class employer's total psychological breakdown. Having re-watched portions in a class, I can see elements of each interpretation present in both halves of the movie. As with many of the films I'm watching for class this quarter, the cinematography is absolutely excellent.

Videodrome: This is probably David Croneberg's best work of bodily-horror. It's also a superb example of cinematic science fiction. I'll be watching it again this quarter for a class, so I'll provide more thoughts in a week or two.

Johnny Guitar: An enjoyable western about two feuding factions, both of which are led by women, rather unusual for the genre in the period (mid-50s). Of course, Sterling Hayden and Ernest Borgnine are here too, and both leave a strong impression in their roles.

Still, the film belongs to the two women: Joan Crawford as Vienna and Mercedes McCambridge as Emma Small. McCambridge in particular eats up the screen in the role of the villain. When she's finally killed, it's a long time coming, and it's hard not to get wrapped up in the moment. Emma Small might be one of the screen's great villains.

At times it drags, though. It seems like an eternity is spent in Vienna's bar after Johnny arrives before we can get and be reminded that this is no B-Western.

"Cool World" directed by Ralph Bakishi. 3 and a half stars. Kim Basinger, Gabriel Bryne, and a young Brad Pitt. The story is pretty weak, but the acting performances are decent and the visuals are spectacular. I love alternate reality movies and films that explore the concept of reality.

Two films set in Canada inside a month's span; good times. This is a new film adaptation of a 1997 novel by Mordecai Richler (whose The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz was made into a notable Richard Dreyfuss film in the mid-1970s), which was his last work before his death in 2001. The novel is one of Richler's most entertaining, and the film version is pretty good; it's a bit less caustic than Richler's humour (and shrinks/condenses a lot of plot elements), but it's a good balance of humour and sentiment. Paul Giamatti won the Golden Globe for his performance as Barney, and it's well-deserved; it's too bad he didn't get an Oscar nomination for it. I always have a soft spot for Giamatti, since an actor with his looks really has no business headlining movies in modern Hollywood, but he manages it on the basis of undeniable talent. Also of note, Rosamund Pike as his third wife and true love Miriam (Pike is #1 on my list of actresses who deserve to be bigger than they are) and Dustin Hoffman as his dad. The film got an Oscar nomination for makeup, and I hope it wins; the aging effects are great, following the characters from the early 1970s until 2010.

9. Metropia - C+. Serviceable CG-animated film noir / dystopian future hybrid with an interesting visual style- everyone basically looks like hyper-detailed bobble-head dolls. Was fairly entertaining but nothing is really outstanding about it that I can strongly recommend it.

10. Brand Upon the Brain - B. My adventures into surrealistic film-watching continue. This is my first Guy Maddin film. Effectively explores the issues of adolescent sexuality in the context of a mystery set around a creepy orphanage on a fictitious Canadian island. The visual style is like a mix of silent-era movie making with German expressionism thrown in and modern film touches used sparingly and almost as a special effect. Makes particularly good use of a line repeated throughout the film "you will see everything twice" where a shot is shown out of context early in the movie and then is repeated later and with some impact when seen in context with the story. Demonstrates an interesting vision by the director and makes me want to check out more of his work.

Last night after the Super Bowl, my friends Angie & Ted decided we should watch a movie, so they popped in the original Japanese horror film Ringu since I hadn't seen it before, but have seen the American remake & its sequel (I've even met the actress that played the girl in the well).

The movie was so slow, I think I dozed off for a bit without missin' anything, and some of the sound effects were just bad. But one thing I will give credit for that I liked more than the remake - when she comes out of the tv, she's solid. In the remake, she still has bursts of static while walkin' across the room, but in this, she's "real." I liked that a lot more.

I think I'm the only person in the world who didn't unconditionally love Black Swan, or isn't even fond of Darren Aronofsky in general. I almost got yelled out of a room at a party this weekend for disagreeing with people on its amazing-ness. Yeesh, lol.

I highly recommend Bronson if you're looking for something dark and psychological, especially if you're interested in something that's a little reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange. I feel like I need to learn French and then re-watch Cache in order to bump it up to an A since it's such an atmospheric movie, with the background chatter going mostly untranslated. True Grit felt like too much of a scene-for-scene remake without any of that Coen Brothers magic sprinkled in.

I'm not sure why but I keep sampling material I'm told isn't good. Up next in the queue, DOOM.

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Well, stop before you watch Doom.

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Thanks for trying. It arrives tomorrow and I'll watch it. I think the reason is two fold why I watch movies I've heard are bad.
1-So I can say I saw it and have an informed opinion. Is it really that bad I always ask or just a loud minority says that.
2-Trainwrecks can be a wonder to behold.

I'm not surprised to find out that the critical reception of Coppola's other S.E. Hinton adaptation made in 1983 was poor--the film barely has a narrative and, visually, is anything but conventional. Of course, Coppola's visual style is exactly why it's a great movie, while the much more conventional The Outsiders is only okay. I don't think I've seen black and white photography this good in a movie since The Night of the Hunter. And, when the movie punctuates the final scene with a few shots of color, it's sublime.

The first two Godfather films and Apocalypse Now are on Blu-Ray. Now we just need Rumble Fish and The Conversation and all of Coppola's (directed) masterpieces as a director will be available in their best form on home video.

While waiting for DOOM to arrive I instantly watched this documentary last night. It's about the conspiracy theory behind how cancer is cureable and a Dr.Gerson, from the 40s Germany, found methods to push back and cure cancer, in any form. The concluding moment was how the Mayo Clinic would not comment and one of their doctors had left after witnessing a former patient in stage 4 be cured when given the Dr.Gerson method. I found the information interesting but the production values and choice of 'host' made for a lackluster presentation. My grade reflects that not the info itself. Still, having seen Food Inc and SuperSize Me back in '10 plus reading 'Skinny Bastard' I'm finding the idea of diet and manufactured foods debilitating results an intersting self study.

I wanted to swing by the Drafthouse for a matinee while I'm here in Austin, and wound up seein' Black Swan. Natalie Portman is now the ony "best actress" Oscar nominee I've seen, so I hope she gets it.

What I don't get is this...she was in every scene of the movie, and so was the actress that starred in True Grit, but the True Grit actress got a "best supporting actress" nomination. WTF is that about?!?

Anyway, Black Swan...that movie was a trip, and the way the sound added to the disorientation (don't know if its the same everywhere, but offscreen chatter really maked use of single speakers off to the sides, rather than every speaker). I don't think it should get "best picture" or "best director," though.